Levon Aronian. Armenian with an ELO of 2776 points who currently ranks 10th in international comparison.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Triple French Champion who was recently defeated by Yi Wei at the City of Leon Masters Tournament. Now 12th in world rankings, 2754 ELO points.

Jon Ludvig Hammer. Grandmaster and Norwegian born in 1990 – like Magnus Carlsen. Won the Norwegian National Championship in 2013 and ranks 75th internationally with an ELO of 2665.

*ELO-ratings from May 2015

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The competitors started with a blitz chess tournament on June 15 (3 minutes + 2 seconds, begging at 1st move), the results of which determined the starting positions of the actual tournament.

The prize money fund contained 300,000 US-Dollars, 75,000 of which were reserved for the victor. Ranks two and three were rewarded with 50,000 and 40,000.

Veselin Topalov prevailed with 6.5 out of 9 points after 9 suspenseful rounds over Vishy Anand (6 points) and won the overall tournament. Until the very last round, the two of them fought for the title. Hikaru Nakamura came off 3rd, while Magnus Carlsen, who usually isn’t satisfied with anything other than the gold medal, only ranked 5th at disastrous 3.5 points.

The official FIDE world rankings have already undergone significant changes this year.

While Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana persistently hold out on first and second rank, Hikaru Nakamura has leaped forward due to his recent successes like the third rank at the Zurich Chess Challenge. Certainly worth recognition when considering that he only barely stayed in the Top 10 in the January rakings (9th). His predecessor as the world’s third, Alexander Grischuk, was expelled to 5th place from which he ousted Visvanathan Anand. The vice World Champion now has to comply with 6th rank.

Cursed by his fate is Radoslav Voitaszek who fell back five ranks since the beginning of the year and brings up the rear now. Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov, and Dmitry Andreikin have even completely vanished from the Top 20.

David Navara, Liren Ding, and Evgeny Tomashevsky, on the other hand, have reason to celebrate. The three of them have just arrived in the world’s Top 20! Tomashevsky gained a remarkable 29 ELO-points this year, after he had proved his abilities at the 3rd Grand Prix tournament last week. The Chinese number one, Liren Ding, advanced from 22nd to 19th rank in January and made it to 15th rank now that he performed well at the Tata Steel Tournament. David Navara is literally rocking the ongoing European Championship and has already prevailed over Rui, Parligras, Shimanov, Potkin, and Kempinsky. Not a bad count after eight rounds. It remains to be seen how the final results of this championship and the Reykjavik Open in mid-March affect merry go-round of the world’s Top 20.

The legendary Zurich Chess Challenge took place from February 13 to 19, 2015 at the “Savoy Baur en Ville” in the Swiss city Zurich. Title defender Magnus Carlsen did not show up this year, but the world-class competitors certainly made up for it. The six participants were:

Winner of the overall rating Hikaru Nakamura who persistently fought for the title and stood strong through the Armageddon tiebreak against Anand.

Runner-up and former World Champion Visvanathan Anand who won the Classical with seven points.

Russian talent Vladimir Kramnik, who won the Rapid competition, but only made it to 3rd rank in total standings.

Levon Aronian, who had to comply with 4th rank and the victory of the Blitz competition.

25 year-old Sergey Karjakin, who currently ranks 12th in worldwide standings, but only ranked 5th in Zurich.

Italian player Fabiano Caruana, runner-up in world rankings, who surprisingly and disappointingly ended up in bottom rank.

From January 25 to February 2 2015 the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar hosted the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters. Amongst other rewards, the winner could expect 20,000 British Pounds prize money, while the second and third rank still won 16,000 and 12,000 British Pounds.

This outlook lured 257 participants from 46 countries to the event. Germany was the best represented country with 30 players, followed by England (23) and Spain (19). As there were no qualification requirements, many newcomers took the chance and competed against well-known Grandmasters like Veselin Topalov, Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler, Nikita Vitiugov, Dmitry Jakovenko, Pentala Harikrishna, Yangyi Yu,and Yifan Hou. The results were final after 10th round.

As can be seen in the ranking, Russia was represented four times in the Top 20 (Vitiugov, Matlakov, Svidler, Jakovenko) – best performance of all participating nations.

Victor Hikaru Nakamura was able to win the first six rounds in a row and remained undefeated with another three draws (Round 7 against runner-up DavidHowell, Round 9 against Bachmann, Round 10 against Harikrishna).

American Grandmater with Japanese origin and World Champion of Chess960, Hikaru Nakamura, celebrates his 27th birthday today.

At this special occasion, we would like to give you a summary of his greatest successes, and we look forward to many more of his brilliant moves in the future.

+ Nakamura playes his first chess tournament at the age of seven.

+ At ten years and four months, he becomes National Champion – the youngest in the history of the United States.

+ In 2001 follows the silver medal at the Junior World Championship (U14).

+ He is announced youngest American Grandmaster when he was only fifteen years old surpasses even Bobby Fischer.

+ A successful performance at the Pan-American Championship guarantees him participation in the FIDE World Championship 2004, where he droppes out in the round of the last sixteen after losing against Michael Adams. In 2004, seventeen year-old Hikaru Nakamura defeats Sergey Karjakin with a three point advantage in Cuernavaca.

+ He wins the 2005 edition of the United States National Championship, along with the Foxwoods Open and World Open in Philadelphia.

+ The same year he is runner-up at the Junior Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland.

+ At the Chess Olympics in 2006, his flawless performance helps the American national team win the bronze medal.

+ The victory at the North American Open at Las Vegas follows promptly.

+ The following year he prevails at the online tournament “Dos Hermanas“ (three minutes thinking time per duel).

+ Nakamura wins the 2011 edition of the Tata-Steel Chess Tournament and a competition against Ruslan Ponomarjov.

+ The third victory at the United States National Championship follows in 2012.

+ He comes off 2nd at the FIDE Grand Prix and Sinquefield Cup in 2013 which lets his influence in the world of chess grow significantly.

+ In January 2014, Hikaru Nakamura achieves a personal record in his ELO-rating of incredible 2789 points.

+ A few weeks ago he ranked 3rd at the FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent and achieved the same ranking as at the FIDE World Blitz Championship in the summer. His performance at the Zurich Chess Challenge earlier this year was just as remarkable.

+ Yet another triumph dates back only two days – Nakamura wins gold at the two-day “Super Rapidplay” of the London Chess Classics with 9.5 out of 10 points.

We wish Hikaru Nakamura a great day of celebrating with all his loved ones and many more successes at both Black and White times 🙂

The first tournament of the new FIDE Grand Prix Series was scheduled to run from October 1 to 15 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The World Championship series of 2014/15 consists of four tournaments, which is rather extraordinary, as until now a full cycle always has always been made up of six tournaments. The FIDE remains silent and names no reasons for this significant chance. People are speculating, though, that there weren’t enough applicants willing to host the events.

The total prize fund for each tournament holds 120,000 EUR, of which the victor receives 20,000 EUR. Both winner and runner-up are also granted the right to participate in the Candidates’ Tournament.

The tournament in Baku was staffed with twelve top-class super-grandmasters with ELOs of 2700 and above: Dominguez Perez, Tomashevsky, Karjakin, Gelfand, Nakamura, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Svidler, Andreikin, Caruana, Grischuk, and Kasimdzhanov. Fabiano Caruana with starting number 10 had been the top-favorite competitor all along, holding the highest ELO-rating of 2844 points. Despite having the lowest ELO-rating of all participants, Evgeny Tomashesky managed to obtain a terrific 6th rank.

First rank was shared by Fabiano Caruana (4 victories) from Italy and the Israeli Boris Gelfand (3 victories):

FINAL RESULTS

Rank

SNo.

Name

Rtg

FED

Pts

1

10

Caruana Fabiano

2844

ITA

6½

2

4

Gelfand Boris

2748

ISR

6½

3

3

Karjakin Sergey

2767

RUS

6

4

11

Grischuk Alexander

2797

RUS

6

5

8

Svidler Peter

2732

RUS

6

6

2

Tomashevsky Evgeny

2701

RUS

6

7

5

Nakamura Hikaru

2764

USA

6

8

7

Radjabov Teimour

2726

AZE

5½

9

6

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

2764

AZE

5

10

12

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

2706

UZB

5

11

9

Andreikin Dmitry

2722

RUS

4½

12

1

Dominguez Perez Leinier

2751

CUB

3

The ELO-rating may be an indicator for a player’s strength and abilities, but is certainly not the only measure for a player’s performance. This is quite obvious when studying the rounds’ individual results.

Round 1. October 2, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Dominguez Perez Leinier

½ – ½

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

Tomashevsky Evgeny

½ – ½

Grischuk Alexander

Karjakin Sergey

0 – 1

Caruana Fabiano

Gelfand Boris

1 – 0

Andreikin Dmitry

Nakamura Hikaru

½ – ½

Svidler Peter

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

½ – ½

Radjabov Teimour

Round 2. October 3, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

½ – ½

Radjabov Teimour

Svidler Peter

1 – 0

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

Andreikin Dmitry

0 – 1

Nakamura Hikaru

Caruana Fabiano

½ – ½

Gelfand Boris

Grischuk Alexander

½ – ½

Karjakin Sergey

Dominguez Perez Leinier

½ – ½

Tomashevsky Evgeny

Round 3. October 4, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Tomashevsky Evgeny

½ – ½

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

Karjakin Sergey

1 – 0

Dominguez Perez Leinier

Gelfand Boris

1 – 0

Grischuk Alexander

Nakamura Hikaru

½ – ½

Caruana Fabiano

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

½ – ½

Andreikin Dmitry

Radjabov Teimour

½ – ½

Svidler Peter

Round 4. October 5, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

½ – ½

Svidler Peter

Andreikin Dmitry

½ – ½

Radjabov Teimour

Caruana Fabiano

1 – 0

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

Grischuk Alexander

½ – ½

Nakamura Hikaru

Dominguez Perez Leinier

½ – ½

Gelfand Boris

Tomashevsky Evgeny

½ – ½

Karjakin Sergey

Round 5. October 7, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Karjakin Sergey

½ – ½

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

Gelfand Boris

½ – ½

Tomashevsky Evgeny

Nakamura Hikaru

½ – ½

Dominguez Perez Leinier

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

½ – ½

Grischuk Alexander

Radjabov Teimour

½ – ½

Caruana Fabiano

Svidler Peter

½ – ½

Andreikin Dmitry

Round 6. October 8, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

1 – 0

Andreikin Dmitry

Caruana Fabiano

1 – 0

Svidler Peter

Grischuk Alexander

0 – 1

Radjabov Teimour

Dominguez Perez Leinier

½ – ½

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

Tomashevsky Evgeny

½ – ½

Nakamura Hikaru

Karjakin Sergey

½ – ½

Gelfand Boris

Round 7. October 9, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Gelfand Boris

½ – ½

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

Nakamura Hikaru

0 – 1

Karjakin Sergey

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

½ – ½

Tomashevsky Evgeny

Radjabov Teimour

½ – ½

Dominguez Perez Leinier

Svidler Peter

½ – ½

Grischuk Alexander

Andreikin Dmitry

1 – 0

Caruana Fabiano

Round 8. October 10, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

½ – ½

Caruana Fabiano

Grischuk Alexander

½ – ½

Andreikin Dmitry

Dominguez Perez Leinier

0 – 1

Svidler Peter

Tomashevsky Evgeny

½ – ½

Radjabov Teimour

Karjakin Sergey

½ – ½

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

Gelfand Boris

½ – ½

Nakamura Hikaru

Round 9. October 12, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Nakamura Hikaru

1 – 0

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

1 – 0

Gelfand Boris

Radjabov Teimour

½ – ½

Karjakin Sergey

Svidler Peter

½ – ½

Tomashevsky Evgeny

Andreikin Dmitry

1 – 0

Dominguez Perez Leinier

Caruana Fabiano

0 – 1

Grischuk Alexander

Round 10. October 13, 2014. 3 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

0 – 1

Grischuk Alexander

Dominguez Perez Leinier

0 – 1

Caruana Fabiano

Tomashevsky Evgeny

1 – 0

Andreikin Dmitry

Karjakin Sergey

½ – ½

Svidler Peter

Gelfand Boris

1 – 0

Radjabov Teimour

Nakamura Hikaru

½ – ½

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

Round 11. October 14, 2014. 1 p.m.

Name

Res.

Name

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

½ – ½

Kasimdzhanov Rustam

Radjabov Teimour

½ – ½

Nakamura Hikaru

Svidler Peter

½ – ½

Gelfand Boris

Andreikin Dmitry

½ – ½

Karjakin Sergey

Caruana Fabiano

½ – ½

Tomashevsky Evgeny

Grischuk Alexander

1 – 0

Dominguez Perez Leinier

Italian superstar Fabiano Caruana had to comply with defeats in the duels against Dmitry Andreikin (ELO 2722), Alexander Grischuk (ELO 2797), and Leinier Dominguez Perez (ELO 2751) in rounds 7, 9, and 10. Quite a surprise, considering the fact that Andreikin and Dominguez Perez are in last and second-last place in the final rankings.

Sixteen competitors will participate in the Grand Prix Series. In accordance with the rule set, each player can compete in three of the four tournaments. Along with the twelve participants of Baku, chess enthusiasts can look forward to seeing Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Dmitry Jakovenko, and Ehsan Ghaem Maghani in action. The next tournament of the series is scheduled from October 20 to November 3 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.